VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Purdue women's cross country team won the Winrow Valparaiso Open and the men placed second on Friday afternoon at Sunset Hill Farm County Park in Valparaiso, Indiana.
In their season-opening meet, the Boilermaker women's team's victory was led by an individual win in the 5k race by junior Emma Tate. Purdue also was third-seventh and 11th. Individually for the men, Purdue was sixth, seventh and ninth-16th on the 6k course.
"First, it's great to be back and racing," Purdue cross country coach John Oliver said. "I understand that we're still dealing with COVID-19, but it was fun to get out on the course and race teams again. For the women, I was really excited, we showed great depth and a lot of growth over the last year. They really got after it, and I was excited for that, along with their effort throughout the race. For the men, we came in with a plan. These early-season meets are really tricky, and they did a great job of sticking to the plan and running together in their packs we picked for them, and they executed well. At the end of the day, it's about execution and the process more than the end result, and we made a good step towards that today."
The Purdue women won the meet with 19 total points, ahead of Notre Dame, who was second with 41 points. Green Bay (91 points) and Valparaiso (103 points) rounded out the field. UND won the men's team competition with 15 points, ahead of Purdue's 43. Valparaiso (89 points) was third and Green Bay (100 points) fourth.
Tate's victory was with a time 17:21.1. She bested the second-place finisher by more than six seconds to earn the win. In a tightly-contested race for second, sophomore Katelyn Wasson was just 0.01 seconds behind and finished third in 17:27.5. Senior Megan Slamkowski was close behind Wasson in fourth, in 17:30.8.
Sophomore Payne Turney was fifth overall in 18:01.1, ahead of sophomore Ellie Tate, who was sixth in 18:05.5. Sophomore Meagan Hathaway was seventh in 18:08.7, and freshman Caroline Jordan was 11th in 18:17.6 to round out Purdue's scorers.
Additionally, freshman Lauren Bales was 13th in 18:23.7, freshman Leah Keesling placed 20th in 18:56.6, senior Anna Morozov came in 23rd in 19:12.7, freshman Haley Mansfield finished 25th in 19:36.8 and freshman Emma Keesling was 29th in 19:52.4.
Bales, Jordan, Emma Keesling and Mansfield all made their Purdue debuts on Friday evening. Leah Keesling ran in her first cross country meet as a Boilermaker, while Hathaway and Ellie Tate returned to the course after they missed the 2021 cross country and track & field season.
Junior Ian Hunter paced the Purdue men with a sixth-place finish in 18:40.6. He finished 0.01 seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Andrew Brandt, who was seventh in 18:40.7.
Eight freshmen followed in ninth-16th place, with just 1.2 seconds separating the octet. Caleb Williams was ninth in 18:52.7, ahead of Ryan Rupert, who was 10th in 18:52.9. In 11th was Ian Shaw, in 18:53.1, and Alex Frey was 12th in 18:53.2. William White was just behind them in 13th, in 18:53.3, to record the seventh-best time by a Boilermaker. Geno Christofanelli (14th, 18:53.6), Bryce Hutchinson (15th, 18:53.8) and Joey Kasch (16th, 18:53.9) rounded out the top-16. Freshman Luke Upton was 21st in 19:26.5.
Hutchinson, Kasch and Rupert all raced for the Boilermakers for the first time in their careers. Christofanelli, Frey, Shaw, Upton, White and Williams ran in a cross country meet for Purdue for the first time.
Friday's competition marked the first regular-season cross country meet for the Boilermakers since 2019, after just the Big Ten and NCAA Championships were contested last year, in the winter and spring of 2021. Purdue opened the season at Valparaiso for the first time since 2018.
Following a weekend away from competition, Purdue travels to the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 18. Indiana State will host the meet.
For more on the Purdue cross country and track & field and program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
In their season-opening meet, the Boilermaker women's team's victory was led by an individual win in the 5k race by junior Emma Tate. Purdue also was third-seventh and 11th. Individually for the men, Purdue was sixth, seventh and ninth-16th on the 6k course.
"First, it's great to be back and racing," Purdue cross country coach John Oliver said. "I understand that we're still dealing with COVID-19, but it was fun to get out on the course and race teams again. For the women, I was really excited, we showed great depth and a lot of growth over the last year. They really got after it, and I was excited for that, along with their effort throughout the race. For the men, we came in with a plan. These early-season meets are really tricky, and they did a great job of sticking to the plan and running together in their packs we picked for them, and they executed well. At the end of the day, it's about execution and the process more than the end result, and we made a good step towards that today."
The Purdue women won the meet with 19 total points, ahead of Notre Dame, who was second with 41 points. Green Bay (91 points) and Valparaiso (103 points) rounded out the field. UND won the men's team competition with 15 points, ahead of Purdue's 43. Valparaiso (89 points) was third and Green Bay (100 points) fourth.
Tate's victory was with a time 17:21.1. She bested the second-place finisher by more than six seconds to earn the win. In a tightly-contested race for second, sophomore Katelyn Wasson was just 0.01 seconds behind and finished third in 17:27.5. Senior Megan Slamkowski was close behind Wasson in fourth, in 17:30.8.
Sophomore Payne Turney was fifth overall in 18:01.1, ahead of sophomore Ellie Tate, who was sixth in 18:05.5. Sophomore Meagan Hathaway was seventh in 18:08.7, and freshman Caroline Jordan was 11th in 18:17.6 to round out Purdue's scorers.
Additionally, freshman Lauren Bales was 13th in 18:23.7, freshman Leah Keesling placed 20th in 18:56.6, senior Anna Morozov came in 23rd in 19:12.7, freshman Haley Mansfield finished 25th in 19:36.8 and freshman Emma Keesling was 29th in 19:52.4.
Bales, Jordan, Emma Keesling and Mansfield all made their Purdue debuts on Friday evening. Leah Keesling ran in her first cross country meet as a Boilermaker, while Hathaway and Ellie Tate returned to the course after they missed the 2021 cross country and track & field season.
Junior Ian Hunter paced the Purdue men with a sixth-place finish in 18:40.6. He finished 0.01 seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Andrew Brandt, who was seventh in 18:40.7.
Eight freshmen followed in ninth-16th place, with just 1.2 seconds separating the octet. Caleb Williams was ninth in 18:52.7, ahead of Ryan Rupert, who was 10th in 18:52.9. In 11th was Ian Shaw, in 18:53.1, and Alex Frey was 12th in 18:53.2. William White was just behind them in 13th, in 18:53.3, to record the seventh-best time by a Boilermaker. Geno Christofanelli (14th, 18:53.6), Bryce Hutchinson (15th, 18:53.8) and Joey Kasch (16th, 18:53.9) rounded out the top-16. Freshman Luke Upton was 21st in 19:26.5.
Hutchinson, Kasch and Rupert all raced for the Boilermakers for the first time in their careers. Christofanelli, Frey, Shaw, Upton, White and Williams ran in a cross country meet for Purdue for the first time.
Friday's competition marked the first regular-season cross country meet for the Boilermakers since 2019, after just the Big Ten and NCAA Championships were contested last year, in the winter and spring of 2021. Purdue opened the season at Valparaiso for the first time since 2018.
Following a weekend away from competition, Purdue travels to the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 18. Indiana State will host the meet.
For more on the Purdue cross country and track & field and program, visit PurdueSports.com/CrossCountry and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.